Longview City Councilwoman Ruth Kendall, left, walks through Hope Village on May 12, 2023, with Hollie Hillman in Longview, Washington. The new shelter has been divisive and continues to gain support.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
Until recently, a street corner near downtown Longview, Washington, was a chunk of gravel that sucked up dust and erected tents. It is a municipally run campsite, intended for assistance to homeless people.
State Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, Washington.
Washington State / Washington State Legislature
According to Sen. Jeff Wilson, a Republican, he spent March when he passed a packet showing all of his district’s projects aimed at getting taxpayer money. Then he saw the mark.
In an interview, Wilson said he consulted with other district officials. None knew how the investment was recorded. The town never directly asked its state delegates to help with Hope Village.
“I said very obviously to the senators, ‘How the hell does this have to do with the [budget]?'”I have told senators that this is a massive and debatable factor in my community. “
For Wilson, Longview “has a rogue” with his emergency powers. He said he would have supported Hope Village if it had been “approved by the public. “And to see it suddenly in the budget seemed like another excess.
“They took this path, this path, they selected it themselves,” Wilson said of the Longview City Council. “Not with Cowlitz County or neighboring communities. “
Senate Republicans accepted Wilson. They redirected the allocation to a homeless shelter in Lewis County.
Indirectly, Wilson worried one of the state budget editors: Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center. Rivers is Longview, but is its assistant principal.
Rivers told the OPB he put the cash in the budget. His budget mandate sent cash “from afar” to southwest Washington, he said. He sent $1 million for a new school roof in Skamania, for example, and cash for the port of Camas-Washougal.
Washington state Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, announced plans to resign from the legislature after two decades as director of network development for the city of Longview.
Faith Matthews / Washington Senate Republican Committee
Like Wilson, some senators have encountered unforeseen investments for projects in their horseback riding. Unlike Wilson, they didn’t take any problems. She said it looked like he was looking to torpedo the project.
“The only senator who chose to withdraw cash from his constituency, Senator Wilson,” he said.
The combat of Hope Village is unique. Even as homelessness increases in the Pacific Northwest, communities disagree on responses and projects are at risk.
In Ortland, Mayor Ted Wheeler threatened last week to end the city’s partnership with Multnomah County because they disagreed with plans to spend $25 million on homelessness.
Clackamas County recently reversed course on a plan to convert a former hotel into transitional housing. Borough President Tootie Smith reversed her vote after saying she “listened to the public . . . that would give him more time. “
And while Vancouver is making plans for two smaller, house-style transitional shelters, city officials have struggled to gain buy-in from their local partners. Clark County Councilman Gary Medvigy has been a vocal skeptic, and generally sees the projects as too expensive.
Medvigy recently told OPB that he now has a more favorable outlook for the projects after city officials met with him on May 10 to discuss costs in detail.
“I don’t know what the best solution is,” Medvigy said. “We all want to do more to eliminate these very harmful and unhealthy ephemeral camps. The truth is that we have to provide some kind of shelter.
FEATURE: Vancouver’s Safe Stay Community officially opened its doors on December 23. Tenants said they were excited to leave their stores and hoped for greater stability at the city-authorized site.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
Medvigy added that Clark County plans to hold a workshop on creating its own transitional small-house-style shelter “in a month or two. “
Meanwhile, Hope Village is in limbo. Like the encampment he replaced, councillors are worried about his future.
Walking among rows of aluminum and fiberglass shelters, Longview City Councilwoman Kendall said she remained disappointed that officials refused to help.
“I would like this to continue. We’re committed to doing it for a year, obviously,” he said. “It would be a real disgrace to lose him after a year. “
There are still other options. Longview’s beneficiaries are elsewhere, he said. And a cohort recently traveled to Washington, D. C. , to ask congressional delegates to locate money.
He said critics were right to worry about the charge of Hope Village and other projects. But, he argued, communities deserve projects that reduce costly criminal remains and trips to the emergency room.
“I think you also have to accuse yourself of not doing it,” he said. “It’s also not a reasonable response. It’s much more expensive than that. “
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, he said. Hope Village works for some; Others prefer to sleep in their cars or stay in hotel rooms. He said Longview is also open to other solutions.
So far, Hope Village works for Castro. Elle has a dog, a difficult white mastiff named Sparkplug, which is allowed in many classic shelters.
Castro said Hope Village isn’t perfect. He worries that the summer will be too hot. He also blames the staff for the curfew.
But, he admitted, “they’re there to help you do whatever you want to find housing. “She said she’s sure she won’t be around for long.